President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he’ll put more troops on the U.S.-Mexico border and expressed frustration the U.S. military “can't act like they would normally act” and get “a little rough” with immigrants, the Dallas Morning News reports.
"I'm going to have to call up more military," the president said during a fundraising stop in San Antonio, Texas. "Our military, don't forget, can't act like a military would act. Because if they got a little rough, everybody would go crazy.”
Trump was referring to a federal law called the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits military personnel from having direct contact with civilians to prevent it from acting as a domestic law-enforcement agency.
“They have all these horrible laws that the Democrats won't change. ... I think they will pay a very big price in 2020 for all of the things, whether it is the fake witch hunt they start out, or whether it is a situation like this. I think the border is going to be an incredible issue,” said Trump.
There are currently about 5,000 active-duty and National Guard troops near the border, though that number fluctuates.
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